“Afatinib (Giotrif, EU; Gilotrif, US) has received a positive recommendation from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) as a treatment for patients with advanced squamous cell non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following progression on platinum-based chemotherapy, according to Boehringer Ingelheim, the manufacturer of the irreversible EGFR inhibitor.

“The CHMP opinion, which recommends that the treatment should gain approval from the European Medicines Agency in this setting, is based on data from the phase III LUX-Lung 8 trial. In the study, second-line afatinib reduced the risk of both disease progression and death by 19%, compared with erlotinib (Tarceva) in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.”

“Boehringer Ingelheim’s Giotrif has shown a greater survival benefit than Roche’s Tarceva in previously-treated patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

“According to data from the LUX-Lung 8 trial, published in The Lancet Oncology, Giotrif (afatinib) extended overall survival to a median of 7.9 months compared to 6.8 months on Tarceva (erlotinib), reducing the risk of death by 19%.

“The study also met its primary endpoint showing a significant improvement in progression-free survival over Tarceva, which is an approved and recommended treatment option for advanced SCC of the lung following treatment with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.”

Every year, thousands of people gather in Chicago, Illinois, for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. The largest meeting of its kind, ASCO brings together doctors, researchers, nurses, patient advocates, pharmaceutical company representatives, and more to discuss the latest in cancer research. Here are some of the most exciting new developments in lung cancer research presented last week at ASCO 2014: Continue reading…

“Boehringer Ingelheim today announced results of the pre-specified individual, as well as the exploratory combined, analyses of two Phase III trials (LUX-Lung 3 and LUX-Lung 6). These data, to be presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), demonstrated for the first time that patients with NSCLC with the most common epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation (exon 19 deletions; del19) lived more than one year longer if treated with first-line afatinib compared to chemotherapy.”

Editor’s note: This article discusses the results of a clinical trial that tested a targeted drug called afatinib (aka Giotrif, or Gilotrif) on volunteer patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The trial found that patients whose tumors had a particular mutation called del19 in the EGFR gene lived more than one year longer if treated with afatinib than if treated with chemotherapy. EGFR mutations and other mutations are detected via molecular testing, and can be used by oncologists to help develop personalized lung cancer treatment plans.

If you’ve read up on lung cancer research in the last few years, you probably know that large strides have been made in targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Targeted therapies are drugs that identify and attack specific mutated proteins that are detected in tumors. Because noncancerous cells do not have these specific mutations, targeted therapies can make a beeline for cancer, while leaving healthy tissue unharmed. Continue reading…